Extinguishing The Fire
by Rasf
Summary: Training. Fighting. Learning. Its all a part of their lives now that they've joined the Survey Corps. It is their obligation to sacrifice everything they have to the sake of humanity and they're all willing to do it. Some more than others, of course, which is the perspective of Eren Jaeger.But, what if his perspective is more than one sided?What if there's a lot more to him? Ereri


**Disclaimer: I do ****_not_**** own SnK therefore my lovelies I do not own the characters, and yet, I do own this story's plot.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_The wind was a soft breeze today, swirling around the leaves of every tree in its radius. The silence of nature was so abundant it caused the muscles that were so tightly wound up within the boy's body to relax ever so slightly. His eyes were shut as he lay on the tender grass, his body forming an indentation on the fertile ground from the pressure added onto it. He could feel the breeze blow through his hair like a hand raking its fingers between the tendrils of muddy brown hair. Everything felt softer now, the breeze, the ground, his body, it was like a huge weight was lifted from him and he could simply lay there without worrying about anything other than the silence around him. _

_At this moment, he could almost forget everything. Forget the world he lived in, forget the terror that ripped him apart every second of every day, forget that people depended on him to bring about the end of the Titans, forget that if he couldn't figure out how to concentrate on his objectives after transforming he would have to be put down or experimented on, forget that his mother was taken from him…_

_No. _

_There were some things that couldn't be forgotten, and things that shouldn't be forgotten. _

_He had a responsibility that burned in his veins, that pushed him forward every day, even when he felt like giving up, even when he felt like his effort wasn't enough, he didn't last long thinking that way before getting back up to move faster. He needed to get stronger, to get faster; he needed to kill the Titans. He needed to kill every. Last. One._

_"Jaeger! Where are you, you little shit?" The cold and impassive voice he came to recognize after a few days of living in the place floated into his ears causing him to groan and shut his eyes even tighter. He didn't want the peace to end just yet; he didn't want to face _him_ again. _

_"What do you think you're doing, brat? Aren't you supposed to be training?" Corporal Levi said, reaching down to pull Eren onto his feet, a look of annoyance flickering between his handsome features._

_"I-well-uh," Eren reached his arm behind his back, scratching the nape of his neck. _

_"Are you stupid, Jaeger?" Levi's impassive eyes locked on his, his eyebrow perfectly arched. _

_"Well-er-no?" It came out as more of a question than an answer because, truth was, he was immensely intimidated by Levi, and even more so than that, he admired Levi; the way he took everything and had a solution in the same second, the way he held himself, the way he led everyone and took fault for what happened, the way he _was_. Well, it was extraordinary, it was-_

_-Something he should definitely not be thinking about._

* * *

"Eren! Eren wake up!" Eren groaned and peeled his eyes opened, blinking harshly against the light that bore mercilessly into his green eyes.

"Wha-Huh?" he mumbled brilliantly through the haze of sleep that was still instilled into his body.

"Why were you calling out Corporal Levi's name?" Mikasa asked, her short brown hair flowing around her soft face.

"I-I _what_?" Eren stammered, bolting upright in his sorry excuse for a bed.

"You kept saying 'Levi' over and over again," Mikasa tilted her head to the side, "What were you dreaming about?"

Eren felt his face burn and he turned his head quickly then sighed in relief to find no one else was in the room but Mikasa, "I don't remember, actually." He bit his lip, stretching his arms straight into the air.

There was a strange look that passed through Mikasa's eyes but it quickly disappeared which left Eren to wonder if there really was a weird look? Or…was it just his imagination? He shook his head. Lately, it was so difficult to differentiate between what was real and what wasn't. To be completely honest, the training from the past couple of days had worn him out, and he hadn't been sleeping well since the last time he transformed into a…Titan.

It had been a month already since they attacked Annie, and everyone was tense as ever. They all trained persistently during the day and researched everything they needed to know at night. Eren, too, had been training with them and learning but when everyone went to rest, Eren was taken out to practice transforming out of will instead of pain which, in itself, brought about pain.

All in all, he'd learned two things: One, he needed to be angry to transform, and two, transforming without pain was a pain in the ass.

He didn't think he'd be able to transform without inflicting some sort of pain upon himself but everyone was so adamant on keeping him from hurting himself that he didn't have the heart to stop trying their way. Of course, he knew that it was only a matter of time before they would need him to really transform but until then he would work twice as hard than he already was and he wouldn't give up. He couldn't give up.

"-Eren?" Mikasa's voice interrupted his internal blabber and he flushed red again.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" Eren said sheepishly.

Mikasa sighed and stood up, "I said you need to get dressed because you're going to miss breakfast." She smiled slightly and turned around to give him privacy.

Eren bit his lip and stood up, grabbing his uniform to pull on but he snuck a glance at Mikasa, feeling more than a little embarrassed to change with her in the room, and so he said, "How about I meet you there?"

Mikasa nodded and walked out of the room, muttering for him to hurry up before vanishing down the hall.

With a sigh, Eren began pulling off his loose white shirt and tossing it to the side where a pile of dirty clothes sat on the concrete floor. He could just imagine the fit Levi-

_Corporal_ Levi, his mind corrected.

Eren sighed.

He could just imagine the fit _Corporal_ Levi would have if he saw the pile of clothes there. It caused a small smirk to tug at the corners of his lips as he stretched his arms and torso, twisting ever so slightly to release the tension he felt building up into coils within his body. Eren had just turned slightly, his face looking in the direction of the bars in his cell when his eyes caught sight of a slim but wiry figure leaning against the wall; Eren almost choked on the air he was breathing.

"C-Corporal-"

"Jaeger, do you know what I see, you little shit?" The Corporal's voice was what Eren liked to call 'angry' but in reality it was pretty much the same tone he used every day all day.

"Um," Eren began, not really knowing what to say, "I would have to assume the dirty clothes in the corner?" he said, feeling the heat of his blood rushing to his face.

"You've awakened with some intelligence this morning, brat." Levi stepped forward, entering the cell which consequently made Eren's face heat up even more, realizing that he was in only the loose pants he used to sleep, then wondering why the hell it even mattered, it's not like he was Mikasa or something to be worrying about being shirtless in front of the Corporal, and yet, he was.

Levi took another step forward and leaned in close to Eren; Eren held his breath, "And yet, you can't manage to function properly enough to pick up your mess." The second after the words left his lips, Eren felt a sharp pain thrash through his abdomen causing him to double over and cough.

When he finally straightened out after receiving the Corporal's blow, he caught sight of Levi's green uniform floating away from the cell and down the hall. It took a moment for Eren to regain his composure but he rubbed his abdomen while pulling on his uniform quickly, moving to pick up the mess he left of clothes. He needed to make a mental note to keep his cell clean because, with his luck, the Corporal would only come back to beat the shit out of him again.

After picking up and the intense sound of his intestines making unearthly noises, Eren bolted out of his room and up the stairs to where everyone sat to eat their breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. Towards the edge there was a table where Mikasa, Jean, Armin, Sasha, and Connie sat together. Sasha was burying her face in her food while Jean, Armin and Connie chattered animatedly about who knew what. Mikasa was the only one who was almost always quiet unless he was around. Eren knew that she was comfortable enough to fight with them, but not enough to actually hold many conversations with them.

Armin seemed to have caught sight of him and waved him towards their table, causing a smile to form upon Eren's lips. He could always count on Armin to include him in whatever it was he was doing. As he reached the table, Mikasa scooted over slightly so that he could sit between her and Armin. They were all talking about the two Titans that seemed to have gotten close last night. One was a seven-meter while the other was a five. They were both captured and are now Hange's experiments after having lost Sawney and Bean to Annie.

"Hey, Eren," Jean called out, stuffing a piece of meat into his mouth, "How's your training going?" he swallowed, eyeing Eren the way he always did when he asked the same question.

Eren sighed, "I, well, I-"

"Let me guess: You're not getting anywhere." Jean scoffed, taking a huge drink from his cup.

Eren sighed again and nodded.

"Then what the hell is the point of all of this if you can't even do what you're supposed to do!" Jean exclaimed, slamming his fist against the table.

"Jean-" Armin began but was quickly silenced.

"Don't start, Armin! We put all of our faith in Eren and he can't even make progress!" Jean shouted, "How am I supposed to stay silent when I know that the one thing that's supposed to be helping us is getting absolutely _nowhere_!"

"Eren is doing what he can!" Mikasa shouted, standing up. Her hand reflexively went to her blade's hilt.

"He's not doing enough, but you're blinded by the love you have for him that you can't see he's _not_ the savior of humanity like you _think_ he is!" Jean's voice continued to rise causing everyone to stare at their table.

From the corner of his eye, Eren saw Mikasa's hand twitch and he stood up, locking gazes with Jean.

"I never said I was humanities salvation! I work and train and fight to accomplish what I can!" Eren shouted back at Jean, "It might not be enough but I'm not giving up, I will never _give up! _My goal will never change until I have destroyed every last Titan standing on this planet and if you want to express all of your frustration out on me then do it but I'm not going to sit back and take everything you say to me without a response!" Eren finished, breathing in heavily. He could feel the anger coiling around his veins, intertwining itself with the core of his DNA.

He needed to get out of there.

Eren ran out of the room, away from everyone and away from everything. It wasn't long before he felt the pain of Transformation boiling inside of his blood. It vibrated throughout his body in an almost painful manner. All at once, Eren felt his vision tinting with green then red then back to normal. His blood rushed in and out of his heart in an almost tangible manner. He felt his body growing, extending then recoiling back into itself. It was excruciating. His body and mind were at war. Eren wanted to manipulate the transformation, hold onto the anger to transform later but his body wanted the release now.

Except, he needed his mind to be stronger.

It was the only way to master the transformation. The only way to make sure he didn't transform out of sheer anger or pain. Eren needed to accomplish his goal and he needed to do it _now_.

"Jaeger, you little pathetic piece of shit, what in the hell do you think you're doing?!" Eren heard the Corporal's shout, followed by the soft patter of quick footsteps against the soft earth.

Just like in his dream.

"No! Levi, don't-"

"Levi!" Hange's excited voice flew through the breeze and into Eren's ears. He felt disappointment seep into his being at the knowledge that Levi wasn't alone. No, why would he be alone to see Eren? It was stupid to think otherwise, "He's transforming without triggering any physical injury!"

Silence followed after that.

Well, silence followed once they shut their mouths because Eren could still feel the fire burning within his body.

"If you transform now, I won't hesitate to take you out, Eren." The Corporal said in his impassive tone.

It was that tone, that tone that calmed the fire inside of Eren's veins. He wasn't sure why, but the fact that he hadn't called him Jaeger, shit, or brat seemed but his actual name seemed to have stirred something within him long enough to focus on that rather than the anger and pain being brought on by the transformation.

Eren kneeled against the tender grass, his palms against the dirt under him as he panted, feeling every breath as a fire being put out inside of him.

He couldn't wrap his mind around how easily he calmed down because of Levi's words. It couldn't be because of him, no, that would be ridiculous, it would be insane for him to think that, but his words were a different story. For once, Levi was talking to him like an equal, or at least, that's how Eren saw it.

Really, he did.

And yet…there was still that doubt, that small tingle of curiosity that asked:

What if it _was_ Levi who calmed the fire within him?


End file.
